Stupid Science
by kaileeyp
Summary: When Wheeljack goes missing, and Starscream seams to know too much, how will the Autobots save him? and why is Soundwave acting strange? . rating may go up later. (Wheeljack/Bulkhead, Future Megatron/Soundwave)
1. 1: Captured in the woods

The wind softly stirred the tall golden grass, whispering chills down the large robots frame. Ripples danced in the clear water, as many colors of leafs fell from the trees, clearly showing it was fall. Small birds sang, and chipmunks ran around, busy finding and hiding any little pieces of food they could get their little paws on.

Wheeljack happily watched the little world go by, his blue optics scanning over his surroundings. He was not extremely fond of Earth, but he had to admit, for a "little marble" this was a beautiful planet. Besides, the little blue and green rock was growing on him, maybe that or just the fact that Bulkhead was here.

A tiny smile appeared on his face, but then he gave himself a good shake, Bulk probably thought of him as nothing more than a friend. Then again… he _did_ kiss back when Wheeljack did it to get his data pad back, and boy did that feel amazing or wh- "Primus Wheeljack! Get a hold of yourself mech!" he yelled at himself. He only did that to get at his data pad and prevent the humiliation of the other 'bots to find out he used to be a scientist. Those were the days, no war, fighting, guns or death, just him and his friends discovering new things and creating their own little inventions. Sure they weren't rich, but that didn't matter, old Seaspray was one of his fellow scientists, at the thought of his friend's recent death, he clenched his fists and felt a growl rumble in the depths of his throat. Trying to relax, Wheeljack let out a sigh and relaxed his tense shoulders; it was going to take a while to get over this.

Looking back at the forest that separated him and the city where the autobot base was, where _Bulkhead _was. Jacky gave himself another shake, it has been a while since he left for a walk, and maybe he should go back and apologize to Bulk for kissing him. The only reason Wheeljack left for this walk was so he didn't have to face the autobots for some time, after he kissed his friend he hightailed it out of there, making sure he had the data pad. He was very upset with himself, how stupid was that? He cant just go around kissing all of his friends just to get what he wants, but Bulkhead was…._ Different._ With a heavy sigh, Jacky turned to walk back where he had come from, it was time to confront the probably still shocked 'bots….._ And Bulkhead. _

Wheeljack started walking back; all was well, until his entire body tensed up. Something was here with him. He silenced his intakes and stood still, waiting for a sound. Slow cracking footsteps let him know that not only did he have company, but he was highly outnumbered. His left hand grazed over his last glowing grenade, he felt a pang of frustration knowing he only had one left. He found with anger that he left his swords back at the base…. In his room, all he had was this _one _silly bomb. All was silent, the calm before the storm, Jacky shivered, and scanned the trees. Suddenly he felt a blazing pain on his left shoulder, he gasped at the sharpness, but turned around, there was nothing behind him. Narrowing his optics, he reached back and grabbed at what hit his shoulder, a sleeping dart. With a growl of frustration he pulled it out and prepared himself to fight. If who ever was doing this thought a silly little dart would mellow him down, they were very wrong.

Then he felt it again, a sharp stabbing feeling on his hip, he wretched the dart out of himself and rushed into a sleepy stance. He stumbled over his own feet as he waited again. His spark pulsed at high speeds, _if only I didn't kiss Bulkhead_, he thought. _Then I wouldn't be in this mess_. His moves were sloppy as he turned to grab another dart. The forest started to spin before his tired blue optics.

With horror, Wheeljack saw dark bodies rushing towards him, yelling orders; it was all distant to him. Stumbling again, he fell to his knees, his audio receptors blanking out, leaving a whooshing sound for him to hear. His optics felt heavy, he placed a hand on the ground to try to stand, but he was roughly kicked down by someone. He lay on the cold hard ground as he saw more shadows surround him, he was helpless. His vision blurred and his blinks began to drag out. Then, he gave up; he lay limp on the forest floor, waiting to meet his death. The thundering footsteps dimly echoing around his head.

Wheeljack had a few precious moments before the darkness took over him completely. In them he was thinking about data pads, and science, Seaspray, even the autobots but most of all, Bulkhead. He let out a groan in anger and frustration at himself, how could he just give up? The pain from the darts grew inside of him; he clenched his fists and let out a pained sound. It felt as if fire was burning through his circuits. The light dimmed as he started to feel the slightest amount of fear trickle into his slowed CPU. He gasped feebly at the thick air then, those precious seconds were over.

Ever since Wheeljack ran out after the chaste kiss with Bulkhead, everyone had been in a shocked and confused state, especially Bulkhead. He didn't know how to react or what to think, all he was really thinking was about how amazing the kiss was, there was no use of glossae what so ever, only lips. Still, this one little kiss, that turned out to be Jacky just trying to get his data pad back, blew all standards for a kiss way up in Bulkheads CPU. It was so different from any other kiss he had ever had before; it was strange, yet simple. Bulkhead smiled again, letting out a small sigh as he wondered where Wheeljack had disappeared to for the last two hours.

"Cybertron to Bulkhead, come in Bulkhead" Arcee's voice snapped him out of his daze… again. He looked up, to see the rest of the team looking at him, everyone was sitting at a transformers size table having their energon, but he just couldn't stay on topic. Miko was grinning widely, "you have a funny smile on your face again Bulkhead" she giggled as she tried to cover her mouth. "boo bzee baa shoo baa bzooobzoo bee" Bumblebee laughed, Arcee rolled her optics and looked over the Bulkhead again. Noticing that he had gone back off in his own little world again, she just continued to drink her energon.

Ratchet placed his cube down and looked at Optimus, "there he goes again" he muttered to their leader, Optimus let out a quiet laugh and looked at Bulkhead, smiling and shaking his head slightly as he looked back at Ratchet. "Young love" Ratchet smiled, surprising Optimus, but then joined in on a small laugh. "I wonder when that damn wreaker will come back," Ratchet whispered softly to the Prime. "Who knows" Optimus laughed, "he will probably be back soon; he knows that we could be worrying about him by now". "Not that that would make him come back or anything" Ratchet muttered to himself, but shut his mouth tight when his leader gave him a look.

Light footsteps sounded from around the corner, everyone looked up with a smile on their face plates, except Ratchet. Slowly a small frame walked into view, just hidden by some shadow. Ratchet squinted hard, this frame was too small to be Wheeljack, Optimus shifted, and stood up, looking at the mysterious bot. Arcee and Bulkhead exchanged looks and watched with suspicion. The entire room went silent.

"Greetings Autobots" came a snide voice, as none other than Starscream stepped out of the shadows.

_ok, so this is the begining of my first proper fanfiction... please go easy on me. :)_

_this will be multi chaptered and I will try to update as often as I posibly can (because i know how iritating it is when you are just waiting and waiting and waiting on a cliff hanger...). _

_pleeease review :) _

_toodaloo,_

_Kaileeyp_


	2. 2: Hope and Worry

**OK... WoW, Really long time since last update and I am really really sorry! I will start posting normally now, so, here's chapter 2!**

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"_I love you" Bulkhead murmured softly. He gently squeezed wheeljack's waist with his large servo. Wheeljack flushed and looked down, vainly trying to hide the faint colour of his cheeks. Bulkhead chuckled softly and tipped Jacky's head up to look him in the optic. A faint smile crawled onto the smaller mech's lips as they pressed their forehelms against each other's. A gentile peck on the lips was shared, then another, and another. Before ether mech could think about it their lips opened and they clung to each other with more intensity. Bulkhead pulled Jacky onto his green lap and they continued to kiss. The smaller wreaker straddled his friends lap; he let out a gasp as he felt Bulkhead's lips trailing down his neck. A shudder shot up Wheeljack's back strut as he let out a choked sound. A hot fire built up in Jacky's abdomen, he let out a quiet moan and shuddered again. Arousal and heat curled through his frame as he instinctively began to role his hips against his friends. Out of nowhere pain shot through Wheeljack's frame, he jumped and cried out.  
"Slag! What was that?" he whimpered and pulled back to look at his friend again. Bulkhead disappeared from under him after one last apologetic look. "Bulk!" he shrieked in surprise and fear. His body was jerked away violently and he gasped as he was suddenly falling through blackness. "BULKHEAD!?" he yelled as pent up fear shot through his tense body. Another round of pain blasted through his body like fire, a painful scream was ripped from his throat. The darkness smothered him as he twisted and turned through the hot air. The pain, confusion and terror built up inside of him as he continued to tumble through blackness. Then, right as Wheeljack began to feel more pain, the entire world was ripped from his grasp._

Wheeljack groaned, as he slowly woke up. His aching systems worked hard to keep him online, his helm felt like it was about to explode. Instantly hundreds of questions popped into his mind, where was he? Why did he hurt? What happened? He inclined his helm and looked around. _Slag_. The nemesis. The dank metal walls surrounding him were covered in tools and devises, Primus only knew what they were for. Most likely torture, Jacky considered darkly. He was in a small chamber surrounded by iron bars, like a jail cell. There was a pink stain on the wall across from him that sent a chill up his spine, _some poor bot's energon no doubt. _Looking down he saw a big problem, he was strapped down to a cold metal berth, servos and peds tied tightly. The berth was angled up, so he could get a good view of his lovely new accommodations…_joy.  
_"Well, well, well, look who finally woke up?" rumbled a deep voice from across the room. Wheeljack tried to look, but his tied position simply wouldn't allow it. "Sleeping beauty?" Jacky replied with a smirk. Just because he was a prisoner didn't mean he couldn't have some fun with it. A quiet snort was his only reply, slow footsteps walked towards Jacky. He swallowed thickly and waited to see who the voice belonged to. Though inside he already knew the answer, _shockwave._

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT JACKY!" Miko wailed at Starscream.  
"Easy, Miko" Optimus rumbled as he walked forward. "Starscream, I hope you realise that your presence here is not welcome. However, under the current circumstances, I suppose we will have to ask you why you are here." All of the Autobots were surrounding Starscream; whose back was pressed up against a corner. Arcee and Bumblebee had their guns out, yet no one began to fight. A cruel smile played on Starscream's mouth.  
"Prime," he began, "think of it this way, I don't care what happens to my _all mighty leader"_ Sarcasm dripped from his voice.  
"That's nice, what do you want?" Ratchet growled, but piped down when Optimus gave him a pleading look.  
"DO NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT _MEDIC_!" snarled the seeker, his wings lifted high on his shoulders in a defensive manner.  
"Starscream" Optimus rumbled, "Why are you here?"  
"Is it so bad that I just wanted to say hello?"  
"Starscream" His tone was darker this time, even Starscream was intimidated.  
"Hmm, not the chatty type I guess… You and Soundwave would get along well." The sound of multiple cannons being charged sobered the seekers unusual behaviour. "Fine, if you don't want my help-"  
"What help, you stupid screamer?!" Miko screamed at him.  
"Hmm," Starscream hummed, "Very well." Without another word the Decepticon turned and ran down the hall.  
"Wait!" Bulkhead yelled desperately and chased after him with Arcee on his heels. Silence filled the silo and Bumblebee unsurely put away his cannon. Ratchet clamped a servo on Optimus's shoulder and turned to walk back to the med bay. The only sound for the next few minutes were the soft typing sounds coming from the computers as Ratchet tried to hunt down the missing wreaker. Everyone looked up as Arcee and Bulkhead walked back in the room,  
"lost him" Arcee confirmed glumly.  
"This is my entire fault" Miko cried softly, "I shouldn't have yelled at him". No one even tried to disagree.  
"What if he knew where Jacky was?" Bulkhead murmured weakly as he looked at his peds with disappointment. Arcee sighed and stalked off in anger. Jack hesitated, grabbed his helmet and schoolbag, and then followed his guardian out.  
Optimus turned to Bumblebee and nodded "Bring the children home". The young scout transformed and let both remaining kids climb in, after a pause, he drove off. Optimus nodded at Bulkhead, "Get some sleep, we can only hope that Wheeljack is safe for tonight," Then he walked to his quarters, leaving Bulkhead by himself.  
"But what if hope isn't enough?" Bulkhead whimpered to the empty room.

**._._._._._._._._.**

**Pretty Please comment, fave, or follow! I will love you forever! I hope to have the next one up soon.**


	3. 3: Darkness and Worry

**_Hey everyone! as promised I have worked my ass of over the last week to get this up. I haven't really been in a writing mood lately, so sorry if it seems forced. _**

**_WARNING: Contains torture, hearing another be tortured and some violence._**

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Wheeljack cringed at the sound scraping of metal from the room next to him, sounded like another Autobot was being tortured next door. A shrill scream pierced the air, this one sounded more animal than mech. It made a shudder run down Wheeljack's spinal strut, he was probably next. The screams rang on for what seemed like hours. Eventually the crazed shrieks quieted down to soft sobs and wet chokes. The scraping metal sounds were replaces with shifting and what Wheeljack guessed was the typing on a data base. Shockwave must be typing up how the session was, the wrecker thought glumly. He was still in the same room as last time, tied up in heavy chains that bit into his wrists painfully. Wheeljack had long ago given up on trying breaking the bonds; those chains were solid, besides, the more he struggled the more energy he used up. It was grim, but he had to save his energy for keeping himself alive. Who knows how much energon Decepticons give their prisoners, probably none. He let his frame relax; now that the screams were diminished he may as well try to get some shut eye before Shockwave comes to visit him. The more energy the better, he reminded himself as he began to cycle down.

But before he could fall into much needed slumber, Wheeljack noticed something strange. There was silence, no more sobs from the previous torture subject, no typing sounds, nothing. Just dead air. Wheeljack bristled, something wasn't right. He craned his neck forward, trying to see into the other room, but it was pitch black. The wreckers spark thumbed quickly against his chamber as panic rose in his stiff body. He swallowed a think lump in his throat and turned up his audio sensors. Nothing. Suddenly, the metallic tang of energon filled the air. It was so strong that Wheeljack choked on thin air at the scent, before gracefully hacking up all of the remaining energon in his tanks. Wonderful, he thought to himself, just when he was trying to save up his energy. He glared down at the pink puddle on the ground venomously. But the smell of spilt energon sickened him more, so Wheeljack continued to dry gag and hack, but there was no more fuel to spill, so he finally calmed down. The eerie silence covered him like a thick blanket, trapping all of the heat and panic in him. Slowly Wheeljack began to piece together what happened. Shockwave had just killed the last torture subject, leaving him.

The silence was interrupted by a loud banging sound, Wheeljack jumped and his spark raced. Shockwave calmly walked into the room, but the wreckers spark skipped a beat at the sight of him. The Cyclops was covered in energon splatters, stray wires dangled from his servos, stuck in claw joints… obviously they belonged to the last subject, or what _had been_the last subject. The Decepticon looked like something out of a horror story that the wreakers would tell to spook their friends at night.

"Well," shockwave said in his crisp voice, "Shall we get started?"

Not much later Wheeljack found himself swimming in a world of pain. He tried hard to hold back his screams, he wouldn't allow that Decepticon the pleasure of knowing he was in pain. Though, how could he not know? Wheeljack stubbornly looked away; refusing to see when was being done to him. He did know that his chest plates were open, and he did know that those claws, still covered in another bots energon, were viciously raking through him. He bit his lip, and despite it all, felt more energon dribble from his now bleeding lip. A broken groan crackled from his busted vocalizer and he rolled his head to the side. As painful as this all was, Wheeljack had been through worse. That is until he felt those cold claws start prying at his spark chamber. Jackie let out a gasp and locked his chamber, refusing to let shockwave get anywhere near his spark. Primus forbid that monster from getting at his bare spark. Yet it seemed that primus was against him today, as his spark chamber was ripped clean open. Wheeljack let out a horrified scream.

"NO!" he cried out "PLEASE!" Never before had he stooped to the level of begging for mercy.

A dark chuckle answered him, "Don't worry wrecker, I don't intend on mating with you. However sparks are very sensitive, and easily damaged." Wheeljack wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or horrified. Before Wheeljack could say anything more, dark claws ripped through his spark. He let out a wail of agony and tried again to struggle from his bonds. Again and again claws were torn through his life source, leaving ugly scars that would most likely stay forever.

The pain was processor blowing, he couldn't think straight, the room moved around him and he felt his vocalizer blow out, silencing his screams. Sometime during the mind numbing pain he felt coolant tears stream down his face. Countless warnings popped up in his HUD, telling him of major damage through his system. Agony mixed with humiliation as Shockwave continued to brutally maim his life source. Wheeljack silently thanked primus that he wasn't bonded to anyone yet, only he could feel this pain. Something in him let out a sickening snapping sound, Wheeljack choked on his own energon. Everything blended together; he faintly remembered purging again, this time all over himself. Shockwave laughed darkly at every jerk and spasm that happened to Jackie's frame. The room whirled around him, and finally, Wheeljack slipped from reality.

* * *

"Anything?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"not even a trace?"

"No". The only thing that could come close to describing how bulkhead felt was anguish. It had been over 24 hours since Jackie disappeared. They had looked franticly through Nevada, even the surrounding dunes, yet the Autobots just couldn't find the wrecker. Ratchet hadn't left the computer station all day, searching for signals of any kind. "It's like he just disappeared into thin air" Ratchet murmured "no traces, no signals, just nothing". Bulkhead felt his spark sink, what if Jackie had left? What if it was his fault? He had been laughing at Wheeljack' science data pad. Stupid science, he thought to himself, storming out to the lifts. If he hadn't been snooping around in the first place, none of this would have happened. The elevator stopped at the top of the building, Bulkhead stepped out into the dry desert air. It was dark again; too dangerous to look around for Wheeljack, for all they know it could be a Decepticon trap. Miko had been upset as well, and a hot wash of shame swept through the round transformer, he should have been comforting her. Yet how could he help her when all he wanted to do was storm out into the night and slag up the first 'con he sees. Bulkhead stepped forward; he looked out at the vast dessert before his optics.

A warm servo rested on his shoulder, making him jump and whirl around. Optimus stood behind him with an apologetic look in his blue optics.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" he said gently. Bulkhead frowned, he had been so caught up in his musings that he didn't even hear the creaky lift open behind him.

"It's ok, you didn't mean to" Bulkhead muttered, before turning around to look back out at the desert, wondering if Jackie was somewhere out there. The prime stood beside him, a peaceful silence settled between them.

"I know you're taking this hard, Bulkhead" Optimus softly broke the silence, "But we will find him."

"What if he's already gone?!" snapped Bulkhead, whirling on his leader. The look of betrayed shock in the primes optics made Bulkhead shrink back, "Sorry" he whispered, looking at his peds.

"Bulkhead, I promise you that we will find-"started Optimus, but then the alarm rang loudly from inside the base. They both looked at each other in shock before booking it back to the first level. Bumblebee and Arcee sprinted in through the hallway the moment the other 2 mech's came out of the lift. Bulkhead instantly launched all the questions at Ratchet, who shut down the alarm when everyone stood before him.

"Did you find Wheeljack? Is he ok? Are we in danger? Is he here? Do the Cons have him? Did he just get lost? Is he hurt?" His voice let out endless amounts of hope.

"Ppuuleease," Ratchet sighed, "I haven't found him". Instantly Bulkhead's shoulders slumped and a look of defeat took over his face plates. "But I have found Starscream's signal" Ratchet said in a gentler voice, noticing the pained look on Bulkhead's face. A glimmer of hope returned to the green mech's spark.

"excellent work Ratchet," Optimus said, "We could try to get Wheeljack's info from him".

"Give us the co-ordinates and bridge us out" Optimus ordered quickly. As soon as those words came from his mouth the doors to the ground bridge opened. " Arcee and Bulkhead come with me, Bumblebee you and Ratchet stay here. " The orders were swift; salutes were done before everyone got into position, the first three transforming. "Autobots, roll out" The prime said the three words, before driving through the bridge.

It was dark; they were in the streets of Nevada.

"Why would he be here?" Arcee wondered. None dared to transform into their robot modes, even though the only light came from street lamps.

Before anyone could reply bullets were flying. The Autobots transformed and pulled out their weapons, franticly taking cover behind a large advertisement sign. A frustrated screech came from a dark alley.

"Well he's definitely here" Muttered Bulkhead, feeling a dark anticipation went through him. The sound of thrusters signalled that the Decepticon was approaching overhead.

"What if humans see us?" Arcee hissed as she scanned the streets for any sign of life. Before the prime could reply, a slim blade struck through the wooden board they were hiding from. Bulkhead squealed and stumbled away from the sword that hardly missed his face. Instantly Starscream jump on him and started franticly clawing at his face. Arcee swerved and kicked the small seeker off of her friend, before aiming her gun at the seeker. Optimus had sprinted around Starscream, his gun up as well. Bulkhead jumped up and aimed, ignoring the throbbing on his left cheek. The surrounded seeker snarled aggressively at the Autobots, but didn't dare move. Silence filled the streets again.

"Drop the gun, Starscream." Optimus commanded, the seeker didn't move. The soft hum of a gun being charged filled the air, yet the Decepticon refused to budge. The whirring of Arcee's and bulkhead's cannons followed, yet there was no movement.

"I'll give you the count to 3 to drop your weapon and surrender." Optimus boomed, though there was a new tense tone in his voice. Bulkhead fidgeted, wanting nothing more than to shoot at the 'con for not helping them find his Jackie… _his_ Jackie.

"One," Optimus began, Starscream crinkled up his nose and hissed at the larger grounder. Suspense filled the air as all transformers waited for a surrender or attack.

"Two" Optimus drew out the word, trying to get across to the Decepticon. Arcee's trigger finger twitched.

"Three!" All at once the three guns fired. They all completely missed the Decepticon as he shot off the ground and powered his thrusters, hovering 10 meters above. The three shots missed and instead continued in a straight path, one hit Arcee. She let out a surprised gasp as it hit her in the gut, sending her flying backwards. Arcee grunted as her back slammed into a wall of a building, sending dust and sand flying, she collapsed. The seeker cackled and taunted the bots, "Fools!" he shrieked and flew off. He disappeared into the thick clouds. Both remaining mechs ran toward their fallen comrade, worry masked their faces. Luckily, Arcee was pushing herself up on her elbows, coughing, but alive.

Once again the ground bridge opened, letting in all three bots. They each wore a disappointed look; Ratchet instantly knew nothing went to plan. The medic patted Optimus on the back, and silently guided Arcee to a repair station. To be frank he was too exhausted to curse, which meant he was practically asleep as he repaired the femme. Bulkhead didn't say a word; he stormed off to his berth room. The entire way he could feel Optimus's gaze on his back. As soon as the door shut behind him, Bulkhead launched onto his berth, pulling the covers over him and flicking off the lights. The base was dead silent, he could dimly hear Ratchet shutting down the main computer and walking to his own room. Once again disappointment ebbed into his body, pure terrifying sadness. How could one mech manage to make him feel like this? It's not like Wheeljack couldn't handle himself, right? With a sigh bulkhead scrubbed at his face plates, wishing to feel those warm lips against his again. His spark yearned to hold that small red, white and green body against his, but now he couldn't.

For the first in what felt like eons, Bulkhead felt pure hopelessness wash over him. "Where are you Jackie?" he whispered to the empty room. "Where could you be?"

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**_Well I hope you enjoyed that, there is much more to come. please comment, fave, or follow._**

**_Thanks -kaileeyp_**


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